2006年VOA标准英语-Palestinians Vote in First Parliamentary E

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
24 January 2006

Election campaign posters for upcoming Palestinian parliamentary election hang over a street in al-Amari refugee camp near West Bank town of Ramallah   
  
The campaigning is over and now more than one million eligible¹ Palestinian voters are making up their minds about who they will vote for when polls open Wednesday in elections for a new Palestinian Legislative² Council, or parliament.

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The legislative elections are shaping up as a contest between the mainstream³ Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamic militant⁴ organization Hamas, which is running under the party name of Reform and Change.

Support for Hamas surged in recent months, as Fatah split along generational lines, and anarchy⁵ engulfed⁶ large parts of the Gaza Strip, following Israel's unilateral withdrawal⁷ from the area late last year. Hamas won a string of municipal council election contests in the Palestinian territories in November and December, while Fatah had to cancel most of its party primaries for the legislative council elections due to political infighting.

But recent polls indicate Fatah is gaining back lost ground.

Nadr Sa'id is the Director of the Development Studies Program at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Sa'id, a respected pollster in the region, says Fatah seems to have put its political house in order at the last minute.

"What we have seen is a totally different approach within the Fatah campaign," he said. "We have seen more unity⁸ within the group and a more aggressive campaign, which is actually showing in the polls. First of all it has stopped the gains that Hamas was making, and at the same time we could see that in the districts Fatah is gaining ground with the possibility that it will get the majority of seats in these districts."

Voting for the Palestinian Legislative Council's 132 seats is complicated. Each voter can cast two ballots⁹. Half of the seats in the PLC will be decided¹⁰ by votes for national party lists and the other half by voting in 16 local district elections. Each of the parties competing has to get at least two percent of the vote to gain a seat in the legislature and six of the 11 parties contesting are expected to do so.

The Director of the Institute of Modern Media at Jerusalem's al-Quds University, Douad Kutab, says with the proliferation of political parties and candidates, Wednesday's vote opens a new era for Palestinians.

"It is an interesting battle because we have never had this kind of battle before. Hamas has always refused to participate in the elections," said Kutab. "So that is the reason we are all trying to figure out what is happening and what do the voters really think about the different groups in Palestine and what direction they want the Palestinian nation to take."

Nadr Sa'id of Bir Zeit University says both Fatah and Hamas have been profoundly changed, even before any voting has taken place.

"We see that Fatah, the mainstream group, the ruling group forever has decided forever to give up its monopoly over power and authority and is willing to share this power," noted¹¹ Sa'id. "We see that Hamas has been totally integrated into the political system which has implications for the Palestinians and at the same time for negotiations¹² and for peace in the region. Things have changed. Things will never go back to the way they used to be for Palestine."

Palestinian voters will have 12 hours to cast their ballots on Wednesday in more than 1,000 polling stations. Seven-hundred-28 candidates are competing in districts and on party lists. Among them are 85 women, and since party lists have set aside quotas¹³ for women, about 10 percent of the new Palestinian Legislative Council is expected to be made up of women legislators.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

6 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

13 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。